This is the Voice of New Jersey Audubon update for Saturday night, Nov. 30, 1991 at 7:30 pm, with updates and reports of LECONTE'S SPARROW, GYRFALCON, SNOWY OWL, NORTHERN SHRIKE, RED-NECKED GREBE, GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, WESTERN KINGBIRD, LAPLAND LONGSPUR, BLACK-HEADED GULL, HARLEQUIN, COMMON EIDER, ICELAND GULL, and local reports.
The LECONTE'S SPARROW was seen again at Overpeck Park on Friday, Nov. 29 in the afternoon, up beyond the bulldozer. Also in Overpeck Park this week, a LAPLAND LONGSPUR, found Monday Nov. 25, was seen again on Friday Nov. 29. A NASHVILLE WARBLER was there Sunday Nov. 24, and an INDIGO BUNTING was there Nov. 29. To reach Overpeck Park exit Rt. 46 at I-95 south/Teaneck Rd. Follow the Teaneck Rd exit ramp around under 46, and follow the signs for Challenger Rd. through all its twists and turns until it ends in the park. Park in the second parking lot and walk north on the fill toward the bulldozer.
A dark phase GYRFALCON was briefly at Barnegat Light, at Barnegat inlet, Saturday Nov. 30 in the morning for a few minutes. It perched several times on the sand in the construction site then flew across the inlet to Island Beach State Park and disappeared below the dunes. Also at Barnegat Inlet Nov. 30 were four HARLEQUINS; walk back along the jetty toward the lighthouse to see them. Also a first-winter BLACK-HEADED GULL, in the inlet all day; from six to eight COMMON EIDERS at the Eighth St. jetty; FORSTER'S TERN, ROYAL TERN, and good numbers of shorebirds, including PURPLE SANDPIPERS, RED KNOTS, RUDDY TURNSTONES, and peep SP., probably WESTERN.
Meanwhile, back in North Jersey at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, where earlier this week there were EURASIAN WIGEON and 2 BLACK-HEADED GULLS, there were new birds on Friday Nov. 29. From Caven Pier, there was a SNOWY OWL seen on the barges, and a RED-NECKED GREBE on the water. Also there was a BARN OWL in a tree near the Environmental Center.
At Sandy Hook Nov. 29, the NORTHERN SHRIKE was at the pond beyond area K. The 2 WHITE-FRONTED GEESE, seen earlier in the week at Squibb in Lawrenceville, were seen Thursday Nov. 28 at nearby ETS headquarters, also in Lawrenceville. A WESTERN KINGBIRD was seen Friday Nov. 29 at Thompson Park on Newman Springs Rd. (Rt. 520), along the same dirt road opposite the Christian Brothers Academy where the NORTHERN SHRIKE was seen last winter. An ICELAND GULL was at Johnson Park, New Brunswick, off Rt. 18, on Friday, Nov. 29.
The Voice of NJ Audubon [(908) 766-2661] is a regular weekly report on birding in New Jersey. The tape is changed regularly on Wednesdays, more often when necessary. [Compiled by R. Kane, NJ Audubon; transcribed for National Birding Hotline Cooperative by L. Larson, llarson@ pucc.princeton.edu.] To report birds to the tape, call (908) 766-5787, or fax (908) 766-7775. For updates between tapes call the NJ Audubon Bird Mailbox, (201) 983-9152. Good birding, and thank you for calling.